Safety, Reliability, Maintenance & Technical Management Plans

Safety Management Plans are required by licence conditions and form an integral part of the monitoring of the standards of distribution system. The Plan is required to state procedures of safety design, installation, commissioning, operation and decommissioning of the network. It describes the assets of the network, internal auditing, and the risk assessment that has been performed. It also provides some limited Key Performance Indicators.

Envestra, the owner of the gas distribution networks, has contracted OEAM (Origin Energy Asset Management Ltd) to be the operator of these networks. OEAM has presented a Safety Management Plan to the Technical Regulator as required by the licence conditions. It contains an overview of the current practice and also outlines OEAM's proposed procedures for future operation. This Plan has been reviewed and conditionally accepted by the Technical Regulator as complying with the requirements of the Gas Act 1997 and being adequate to maintain the standards of the gas distribution networks.

Asset Management and Performance

Envestra, through its contracted operator OEAM, is responsible for ensuring that the gas distribution systems are safe, properly maintained, and adequate to supply gas at the required delivery pressures. To achieve this it is necessary that there is proper planning and budgeting, that the system can deliver gas safely in peak periods, and that any incidents involving the distribution system can be handled safely with the minimum of disruption.

Distribution Network Performance

OEAM, as agents for Envestra, the network owner, provides reports to the Technical Regulator that detail major outages and provide a summary of the system outage duration for the area affected. Incidents involving attendance by the police or fire service are also reported. These are reviewed by the Technical Regulator and followed up as appropriate. The size and nature of an outage can vary greatly but major outages (defined by Key Performance Indicators as those causing more than 20 consumers to be without gas supply) are rare in South Australia. This makes it difficult to compare the performance of OEAM with other interstate entities or on an annual basis. Hence comparisons have not been made but individual reports have been noted. A statistical reporting system may be required if gas outages, either here or interstate, become more frequent.

Licence Compliance Auditing

The Technical Regulator uses three types of audits to obtain assurance that Envestra's (and OEAM's) Safety Management Plan and Gas Measurement Management Plan meet the minimum prescribed requirements.

Audits performed by the Technical Regulator

• Independent technical audits arranged by Envestra with the findings being provided to the Technical Regulator for a review
• OEAM's internal audits with the general findings being provided to the Technical Regulator

The general purpose of the audits was to obtain assurance for:

• The operational effectiveness of the SMP and GMMP to appropriately manage risks from the operation of the distribution networks to as low a level as reasonably practicable
• Managing technical changes covered by the revised standards and processes
• The competency and capability of OEAM personnel.